Machine learning survival prediction in esophageal cancer using radiomics and body composition from pretreatment and follow-up T12-level computed tomography

Figure 1 Patient selection flowchart. A total of 974 patients with esophageal cancer were initially identified at Taichung Veterans General Hospital between 2017 and 2023. Among them, 342 patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) as the initial treatment. Patients were excluded for the following reasons: Only one imaging examination available (n = 42), missing clinical data (n = 7), or incomplete imaging of the T12 vertebra (n = 15). As a result, 278 patients had both pre- and post-CCRT computed tomography images covering the T12 vertebra. From these, 212 patients underwent follow-up computed tomography scans performed 60-180 days after CCRT, forming the final cohort for analysis. VGHTC: Taichung Veterans General Hospital; CCRT: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy.